Delta to Distribute Surface 2 to Pilots

Delta will distribute Microsoft Surface 2 tablets to its pilots and not Nokia's "Sirius" tablet as originally planned. The move comes in the wake of a deal to distribute Nokia Lumia 820 smart phones to nearly 19,000 flight attendants.

I wrote about the original Delta deal in Delta Equips 19,000 Flight Attendants with Windows Phone Handsets, but added an exclusive: Delta's pilots would soon be given Windows tablets as well. What I didn't reveal at the time was that Delta originally planned to go with Nokia for the tablets as well: That firm was set to launch its long-awaited Sirius tablet, which would run Windows RT, by the end of October.

But now the plans have changed: Delta's pilots will be given Surface 2 tablets instead.

"In less than two years, Delta cockpits will be paperless as we roll-out the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet running Windows 8.1 RT as our company-issued device," the airline alerted its employees recently. "The 757/767 fleet will be the first to make the transition with the 777, 747 and MD88 as fast followers. Look for an announcement from Delta and Microsoft in the coming days about our partnership on the initiative."

Delta currently allows pilots to bring their own iPads with them on flights. But with the move to company-standard Surface 2 devices, that could be changing. It wants "current iPad Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) users to transition to a company-issued device."

As for Nokia, it's not clear at this time whether it will follow through on its plans to release its Sirius tablet given recent news of Microsoft's buyout offer for the firm's devices and services businesses, and the redundancy of that device with Microsoft's Surface tablets. I exclusively revealed details about this planned device in Fall 2013 Windows Tablet Preview. But it could still happen, of course, and Nokia is now planning an October press announcement that could involve several devices.

For me, this story shows that, contrary to many pundits option, Windows RT devices are a very viable option in many enterprise situations. In my business, I live on my Surface RT and it has been a real productivity driver.

That's pretty awesome! Hopefully things will go smoothly and then more airlines will follow. As more airlines follow hopefully more companies will as well. Then as employees use the tablets hopefully they'll start using them at home and then their family and friends will see them and like them and buy them. Its wishful thinking but who knows, the domino effect could happen. :)

This shows the prowess of windows 8 in business. This is purely speculation but I imagine the ability to integrate with their current infrastructure and side loading of apps was a big part of the decision to embrace WP and Surface RT. Why implement itoys when most companies have already invested millions in MS.

So Delta is replacing the Nokia Win8 tablet that they never made and had already planned to buy with a Microsoft tablet. How is this news?

The only reason Delta is forced to buy Surface 2 is because everything other OEM except Microsoft and Dell have discontinued their Surface RT products because of non existent sales. There's a reason Microsoft took a $900 million write down on their inventory of Surface and why Ballmer is out the door.

And it could easily be speculated that Delta got the products at a punishing discount so that Microsoft could try to build even a tiny bit of credibility in the marketplace for this total dog. To anyone who thinks Surface RT is going anywhere but down, or rather, anywhere but into tiny vertical markets (Windows 3.1 for Pen Computing, anyone?), until Microsoft finally pulls the plug, I have a bridge, and some stock to sell you.

Microsoft and Windows RT aside, is there any report or detail on what navigation software they will be running? I'm aware of paperless cockpit software initiaves that run on iOS or Windows, but not WinRT. I'd be extremely interested to know what software Delta plans to leverage in this initiative.